Sunburned
by Shymagical
Summary: Slight 535 Well, a certain pale somebody really should wear sunblock. At least this time, the consequences aren't so bad. .


Sanzo shifted uncomfortably as he lay in the bed, mentally cursing the two more childish members of the group. "Damn them, this is those two idiot's fault," he thought with a frown, wincing when even that stirred the painful sensation brought on by a nasty sunburn. Lying on his back and watching the small beams of light from the window dance across the ceiling, the monk recounted the events that led to his current situation.

It had started out as another petty squabble in the back of the jeep. The monkey and the kappa were arguing over some trivial thing again and the fight that had evolved into a wrestling match which caused Hakkai to skid off the main road into the nearby river. Being miles away from any sort of civilization the Sanzo-ikkou had to make do without a dry change clothes. Sanzo even ending up having to discard his sodden robes. The group had then traveled for hours, stripped to the waist in the extreme summer heat, to the next town. Unfortunately, the only human of the group also happened to be the one most vulnerable to sunburn.

"The next time we drive near any body of water I'm gonna knock both their asses out cold before they do something stupid" Sanzo growled to himself. The thought of beating the two miscreants cheered him up a little until a polite knock caused him to flinch in surprise. He was once again reminded why people put sun block on.

"Come in," he grated out to the door, not even bothering to turn to look as Hakkai entered the room.

"Ah. I see you're still in quite a bit of pain, "Hakkai said sympathetically while placing a bowl next to the night stand by Sanzo's bed.

"Hn." Sanzo closed his eyes, refusing to answer but respecting Hakkai enough not to snap at him. "I'd rather snap at that lanky idiot", Sanzo thought, his mind drifting to the red headed member of their group. Gojyo, probably the least concerned with being burned by the hot sun, had failed to notice Sanzo's delicate condition. He had, however, noticed Sanzo's sour mood when they arrived at the town they were presently in.

"Oi, monk. What's the matter? A little to hot for you?" The kappa had grinned before slapping Sanzo's shoulder in a friendly gesture.

If Sanzo had been less sore and Gojyo a bit slower to react, the red head would probably have ended up sporting a few bullet holes. Sanzo clenched his hands into fists, quietly fuming at the stupidity of ero-kappas.

Hakkai smiled at the prone form of Sanzo as he pulled out a small container. Sanzo opened his eyes as the green-eyed demon slayer placed the container on the nightstand next to a glass and pitcher of ice water.

"When Gojyo and I went out to shop for supplies we stopped by at a pharmacy and they suggested this salve. It's supposed to be good for cooling down and healing burned skin," Hakkai explained at the frowning monk, "One is supposed to apply it after it's been chilled in ice water. Sanzo watched as Hakkai placed the small jar into the bowl.

"Where's Goku?" Hakkai inquired, pouring the icy water from the pitcher around the salve container. "Wasn't he watching over you?

"Ch. Some guard. The damn monkey kept dozing off. I told him if he was going to sleep he might as well do it in his own bed."

"I see. Well extended periods in the heat can be quite draining," Hakkai straightened from his task and smiled. "Shall I come back and assist you with the salve later? Does it hurt a lot?"

"Hn. I'll be fine, I'm just a bit tired" Sanzo huffed, rolling over on his side away from Hakkai and towards the window. "I can do it by myself."

Hakkai smiled cheerfully and, taking the hint, politely excused himself from the room. The inn's larger rooms had all been booked so everyone had ended up with a single. "It's probably for the best," Hakkai mused as he walked down the hall, smiling broadening when he heard the loud snores coming from Goku's room. Sanzo would only aggravate his burns slapping Gojyo and Goku with his fan if they got into another fight. This way Sanzo could get some sleep and hopefully be in a better mood bright and early in the morning when he'd probably want to leave. Hakkai chuckled quietly at that unlikely event as he reached his own room.

Back in Sanzo's room, the monk rolled back from the window wincing at the motion. He'd only done it throw off Hakkai's mothering and now regretted it. It really hurt to move and he had been barely able to hold back a spasm of pain as he had rolled onto his side. Lying on his back again he stilled to a point where he barely felt any pain at all and drowsily went back to watching the lights on the ceiling fade with the sunset.

When he heard the door opening Sanzo jerked his eyes open wondering just exactly when he had fallen asleep and how long he had been out. Glancing at the window he surmised it was probably late at night and he had been out for a few hours. Flushing at being caught off guard he turned a particularly malignant scowl towards his night visitor.

"Whoa! Jeez stop with the knife eyes already, droopy-eyes," Gojyo smiled cheerfully as he took the seat that Goku had earlier used to keep a vigil on Sanzo. Sanzo all but snarled at him. He was definitely not in the mood.

"Hmm... it looks like you haven't put the salve on yet," the redhead said looking into the now melted bowl of ice and the still full container of salve. "You're supposed to put it on now, right?"

"Hn. I'd rather do it without having an audience" Sanzo growled but doubted he would be able to manage putting the salve on his burns without aggravating them. Maybe he should have had Hakkai do it for him.

"Why? It's not like I haven't seen you before" Gojyo teased as he poured a cold glass of water from the pitcher.

"Get lost Kappa, I'm not in the mood to deal with you" Sanzo said closing his eyes, hoping that if he ignored him, Gojyo would go away.

No such luck. He opened his eyes in shock as he felt the bed depress with the kappa's weight as he straddled the monk's thighs.

"Don't worry Sanzo-sama. I'm in a good enough mood for the both of us", Gojyo grinned. He was still holding the cold glass of water in his hands as he peered down at the monk beneath him.

"Ch. Just go away, ero-baka" the monk growled. He was too drained and his skin was stinging too much to deal with this idiot. He closed his eyes in a now almost desperate attempt to ignore the annoying water sprite. If he wanted to drink a glass of water and be annoying, he wasn't going to dignify by paying the ero-kappa any attention.

Sanzo's was definitely out of luck this night as his eyes jolted open as he felt as he felt a cold sensation at the crook of his neck. Gojyo pressed his cold fingers into the monk's skin gently with his left hand before turning to the nightstand to set the chilled water back down.

"What are you doing?" hissed Sanzo as he considered lifting his arms and clocking the kappa on the side of the head.

"Why doing the best I can to ease the great Sanzo-sama"

"By molesting me while I'm vulnerable?"

"Just shut up and enjoy it."

Sanzo frowned as the kappa continued tracing cool paths along the planes of his chest. Internally, he had to admit the cool sensation of the red-head's moist fingertips felt good on his burned flesh. Sighing almost contentedly, he closed his eyes and felt himself drifting into sleep again.

Then opened his eyes again when a completely different sensation woke him up.

"Now what are you doing?"

"You're supposed to put this stuff on when it's been chilled, right?"

"Hn."

"Hmmph. And I bet you're too stubborn to admit it, but you needed some help, huh?" Gojyo remarked as he gently massaged the salve into Sanzo's reddened skin.

"...Hn." Sanzo was feeling too good to argue. The salve was really amazing...he even rolled over on his stomach at Gojyo's gently urgings without as much as a complaint at being ordered around.

"Hey, Sanzo..." Gojyo asked as he worked the concoction into the monk's bare shoulder blades.

"...Hn?" Sanzo's responded languidly. He was dozing off again.

Gojyo grinned. He'd reduced the monk to speaking in single syllables. "Do you mind if I stay in here with you, tonight? You know...so I can keep putting salve on you when you need it?"

"Hn..."the monk murmured into the pillow. He stretched a bit and, thanks to the salve, was finally comfortable enough for some real sleep.

Gojyo took that as a positive response and, grinning widely as he carefully crawled off of his perch, sat back down in the chair by the bed. Sneakily scooting it closer to the side of the bed, he took a moment to fully take in the view of the peacefully dozing Sanzo. Smiling at the opportunity to be near the man without suffering a head wound he quietly muttered a "Goodnight, monk" before cushioning his head on his arms over the side of the mattress.

He was pleasantly surprised as he heard the monk respond with his own "Goodnight, kappa". Smiling happily, Gojyo readied himself to spend the night watching over the sleeping blonde. Eh...he could always just nap in the jeep tomorrow... 


End file.
